Roundtable – Executive remuneration and financial metrics

About a quarter of Pick n Pay shareholders voted against its executive pay policy recently, almost triggering a JSE rule that would have required the food retailer to formally take steps to tackle their concerns. The non-binding vote at the food retailer's recent virtual shareholder meeting shines a harsh spotlight on the issue of executive pay, which has come under the spotlight in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies are focusing on new approaches to deal with executive remuneration. Many companies are looking at their pay packages with a critical eye, especially increases and incentives. The pandemic has seen many companies doing the right thing – announcing pay cuts, cancellation of bonuses, supporting charities and freezing incentives. Investors and other stakeholders are focusing on executive pay now to ensure that remuneration, both now and in the future, reflects the insight of the company’s stakeholders.To talk about how boards and shareholders should be thinking about how the evaluate financial metrics and executive remuneration during times of crisis, Michael Avery sat down with Prof Brian Kantor, an economist and former chief investment strategist of Investec Wealth & Investment, and David Holland, a co-founder of Fractal Value Advisors and an adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, and senior advisor to Credit Suisse Europe since 2011